Spurred by rejection, USD's Coffman worked to prove that he belongs

“Every single thing he's done this spring, he's earned,” USD golf coach Tim Mickelson says of Ian Coffman, above. “It's exactly what you ask for as a coach, to see someone earn their way onto the team and take advantage of it.”
— Bruce Huff / Bruce K. Huff/Union-Tribune

“Every single thing he's done this spring, he's earned,” USD golf coach Tim Mickelson says of Ian Coffman, above. “It's exactly what you ask for as a coach, to see someone earn their way onto the team and take advantage of it.”
— Bruce Huff / Bruce K. Huff/Union-Tribune

Daly City Regional

When: Thursday-Saturday, 54 holes

Where: Lake Merced Golf Club

At stake: In one of six regionals, 13 teams, including San Diego State and USD, compete to earn five spots in the NCAA Championship, to be held May 26-30 at the Inverness Club in Toledo, Ohio. There are 81 schools combined in the regionals.

SDSU outlook: The Aztecs, ranked 22nd, are seeded fourth after earning their 11th straight regional bid. Last year, SDSU played in the finals for the fourth time and placed 14th. The Aztecs have five second-place tournament finishes this season; sophomore Johan Carlsson leads in season scoring average (72.50).

USD outlook: The 12th-seeded Toreros, seeking their first berth in the finals, are making their third appearance in the regionals in the past four years. They had six top-5 showings, including one title, this season and have been led by WCC Freshman of the Year Alex Ching (team-best stroke average of 71.73); senior Blake Trimble (Torrey Pines) was third in the WCC Championships.

Letters of rejection are a way of life for college coaches. They send them with compassion, no doubt, because there are teenagers with big dreams on the receiving end. Yet in the time it takes to lick a stamp, the letters become just another piece of bulk mail. Recruiting is a game of numbers, and far more miss the cut than make it.

That's why USD men's golf coach Tim Mickelson had to laugh a month ago when Ian Coffman pulled out from his golf bag a dog-eared piece of paper as they stood on the putting green at San Diego Country Club.

In the letter that Coffman saved for six years, Mickelson matter-of-factly told the San Diego native from St. Augustine High that he wasn't good enough to play for the Toreros. It was an assessment that deeply stung a kid whose passion for golf seemed to run deeper than his skill for it.

“Oh man, do I remember how it felt when I got that bad boy,” Coffman recalls.

The letter has significantly different meaning now. Coffman shared it with Mickelson not to boast or embarrass, but to enjoy its symbol of pride and perseverance, for both men.

In a remarkable twist, Coffman is one of five starters on the Toreros team that is heading into this week's 54-hole NCAA Daly City Regional, which begins Thursday at Lake Merced Golf Club.

Coffman's road was as circuitous as a trip to Los Angeles via Yuma. Coffman played three seasons as a backup goalie for the USD soccer team, underwent back surgery, got his accounting degree, and walked onto the golf team last spring as a grad student with absolutely no promise he'd ever play in a tournament.

In his final year of eligibility, he has become one of Mickelson's most consistent performers, capping his rise with a tie for eighth in the recent West Coast Conference Championship.

“Every single thing he's done this spring, he's earned,” Mickelson said. “It's exactly what you ask for as a coach, to see someone earn their way onto the team and take advantage of it.”

As for that letter? Mickelson wouldn't mind a mulligan.

“Obviously, I was wrong,” the coach said. “I would have loved to have had him for the last four years. I'm happy to have had him the last year and a half.”

Coffman, 23, is a former Union-Tribune Scholar Athlete of the Year who played varsity golf and soccer for all four years at St. Augustine. A goalie from early in his youth days with the La Jolla Nomads, he manned the nets as the Saints won two CIF titles.

Growing up in Pt. Loma, he took up golf at 13, and from that time on it captured his devotion much more than soccer ever could.

“I have loved golf. There's just something about it,” Coffman said. “If I have to get up at 6 o'clock in the morning, I want to play golf, not do goalie training. I love the challenge of it. You have to work hard at it and you're never perfect. I'm itching for more every time.”

Simply put, though, Coffman did not stack up to some of the other local junior golf standouts against whom he competed. He didn't win a tournament of consequence, and so he wasn't shocked when he failed to impress Mickelson. But he was still terribly disappointed not to be playing college golf somewhere.

The consolation came when Coffman was offered a spot on the USD soccer team by the head coach of 30 years, Seamus McFadden. Coffman was a backup, but it wasn't a bad gig in a program that regularly climbs high into the national rankings.

The goalkeeping became a problem when Coffman suffered a herniated disc in his back that eventually required surgery. When he healed, Coffman hit the driving range, and soccer became a nice memory.

Mickelson let Coffman try out last spring, but in a group qualifier he missed the cutoff number by one shot. Coffman begged for another chance, and Mickelson – and Coffman's prospective teammates – couldn't resist.

“He had an extremely good work ethic, and the guys wanted him on the team,” Mickelson said.

Coffman would prove his value as a teammate. He finally earned a starting spot in March for a tournament in Fresno, but got sick right before the event and was told by his doctor he was contagious. After waiting years for his shot, he called Mickelson to withdraw from the trip.

“It was the most selfless thing anybody's ever done on my team in six years,” Mickelson said.

Coffman made the roster for the Barona Collegiate Cup a week later, and he has been in the starting lineup ever since. He shot 71-69-75 in the WCC tourney in Vallejo to finish as the No. 2 Torero.

“There are guys who step up and play when it matters, and that's Ian,” Mickelson said. “If we're coming down to the last four holes in regionals, and I need him to play at 1-under or even, I know he can do it.”

Everything, he's learned, can become a cause for motivation, including a piece of painful rejection.

“I know it's a little cheesy,” Coffman said, “but it reminds me of where I was at. Any athlete out there, if somebody tells you you're not good enough, you're going to try to work hard to prove them wrong.”